A’s Lose at Menasha
Posted: July 1, 2009
It’s bush, it’s sour grapes and it is impossible to blame a 13-3 defeat on poor umpiring . . . but it certainly is tempting.
The Menasha Macs beat the A’s in a mercy rule shortened game in Menasha Wednesday night. It is difficult to compete when the umpire’s concept of the strike zone changes every half inning. That Menssha would win this game with, or without assistance from the umpire, is a probable conclusion. But after two innings, the result of this game was never in doubt.
The A’s didn’t play well. They had three errors, a throw to a wrong base enabled two Menasha runs to score and only Tim Patzman could generate more than one hit.
The latter was due to Brad Schreiber, a promising young pitcher from Kimberly High School’s State Championship Team. Schneider had a good game; he didn’t need help from behind the second mask. But it is undeniable that he got it. He fanned 12 and walked only one in his six innings. A’s starter Gabe Marshall strck out three and walked five in his three innings.
One of Schreiber’s strikeouts came at the expense of Kreston Albright on a not-even-close pitch. The call prompted the A’s dugout to raise questions about the call. The umpire then told the dugout that their challenging of his work would end right there or he would start at one and throw people out until he reached the other end. That speech marked the end of A’s Manager Chad Gehr’s rope and came in from his third base coaching box and began to question the umpire’s judgment, desicions, vision, integrity and several other of his virtues before the umpire ran him out of the game.
That Menasha wouid have won this game with or without the umpire’s assistance is a likely possibility. The A’s just didn’t seem to be with it this night and once again were stung by their old nemesis, errors. That, coupled with all the “ball” calls and the distracting frustration was running up A’s starter Gabe Marshall’s pitch count. The Macs were cashing in, and they scored in every inning.
Now 21-9 overall and 11-1 in the Northeastern Wisconsin League, the A’s travel to Green Bay tonight.
The Sheboygan A's are members of the Wisconsin State League and Northeastern Wisconsin Baseball League. The A's have helped develop more than 43 players that have reached professional baseball, including 2002 World Series Champion Jarrod Washburn (Anaheim Angels). All Sheboygan A's home games are played at Wildwood Baseball Park in Sheboygan. Connect with the A's on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
